Like this:

Related

12 Comments

I just read that chapter online, and all of it jives with what I’ve observed in my 28 years.

It’s good to see someone walking around who doesn’t need a PR man or an agent to speak for them. I hope that leg gets better.

Every time I go to the stadium, I always remember how I saw Tommy Lasorda argue with the umpire over a terrible call, and get a standing ovation for it. I still bleed and wear that Dodger blue, even though I haven’t lived in Cali for more than a decade.

Hi Tommy, please let me know if you are going to be around the OC for a book signing. It was great meeting you at the Nixon Library a couple of years ago. You signed the Dodger Scorecard from the night they retired your #2 for me. I definately want to read your new book. It sounds great!!

I think one of the books you signed earlier tonight at The Grove requires a bit of an explanation. You see, for weeks I had been looking forward to meeting you and getting the book signed in person, but at the last minute one of my professor’s changed the date of our exam and I was unable to be there tonight.

Well, my sister just so happens to work at the B&N at the Grove so I asked her if she could get a copy of the book signed for me. Unfortunately, she was assigned to a different department so she had to ask one of her coworkers to see if there were any autographed copies lying around. Of course there weren’t and so she came up to you to get the book signed. The only problem was that she didn’t know my name! To make matters worse for her, she didn’t know a thing about baseball so when you started talking to her she panicked and said the book was for her father.

Oh but the fun didn’t end there! I’m told that you then asked her for her dad’s name to which she replied that he didn’t want the inscription personalized. “Really? That’s the strangest thing I’ve ever heard”, I’m told was your reply. I’d have to agree with you, Tommy. But rest assured, the only reason why she asked you for a generic autograph wasn’t because she had plans to sell the book on eBay but because it was really for me.

So as much as I would have loved a personalized inscription, I’m still thrilled to have an autographed copy of your book. Perhaps one day our paths will cross and I’ll finally be able to thank you in person (and maybe get this baseball that I had hoped to have signed by you autographed as well!).

Hi Tommy, I finished reading your book last night. I purchased it last weekend.
I could not put it down. It brought back so many great memories and really gave me insight to what has been happening with you the last few diificult years prior to the arrival of the McCourts.

I am so glad that you are seen by Dodger management, what the rest of the Dodgers fan base has always known, that you are a treasure, not only for Dodger fans but for Americans everywhere. The Dodger fans are so lucky we have you and we can call you ours.

I must say that the stuff about Steve Sax had me laughing out loud-by myself !

It was terrific.

We NEED you to do a signing in Orange County. Anywhere would be great Anaheim , Fullerton across the street from your house, whatever!

Hello Mr. Lasorda, I just recently purchased your book but it won’t arrive through the mail until tomorrow. I read the excerpt on ESPN and I already can’t wait to read it. I was wondering if you were going to be having any book signing in the Orange County area. I go to Cal State Fullerton but I never knew you lived so close to my school! I still remember as a little kid going to games and seeing you march out of that dugout to defend your players. You always had a passion for the game that I’ve always admired. It would be a great honor to be able to meet you Mr. Lasorda, so please let me know if there will be any chances coming up. Go Blue!
Alex in West Covina

Hello Tommy,
I am about halfway through your book and I love it. You have the best stories and an your love of life and of the Dodgers is so inspriring. I admire you Tommy, and I am so proud that I can cheer for and love the Dodgers with you.

Tommy,
I got your book in Pasadena where you were having the signing. Today on the Metrolink I was laughing by myself reading your book :-). I am throughly enjoying it.

Plaschke,

I had asked you if you’ve heard from Mr. Maurice Garner. Remember the story you wrote on 7/4? You said you were going to send him a book. I went back to look at your story that I had posted on a forum. I remember I had bought the paper at the stadium on 7/4 and I sat in my Top Deck seat reading it prior to the game. It was hard trying to finish reading it thru my tears. I looked back at the streaking baseball that Mr. Garner was talking about and I appreciated it even more.

Tommy
I also just read your book, I bought it to find out your story about Bill Russell. I have known Billy for 14 years now and in my opinion he is a stand up guy and would’t hurt a fly. He would be great for the Dodgers in any capacity working with the kids. I wish you would let bygones be bygones and get him back involved in baseball. The Dodgers need people like Billy and Steve Yeager BACK.

Hi Tom,
I would still like to call you ‘Manager” Lasorda. Your book brought back many memories. I too played baseball on dirt fields with several friends. Actually we played rounders in a cow pasture in Alberta, where I grew up. I love baseball and have the reputation among my friends as being a baseball nut. The Dodgers have been my favorite team since the late 1940’s. I do remember you as a Dodger pitcher. I kept tract of all the Dodgers as a teenager. I knew their batting and pitching statistics and often was called in front of the Social Studies class by the proincipal and quizzed on baseball. I wish that had been my only school subject. Anyway, I love your approach to life and the game of baseball. I, like you, had to accept challenges in my youth to succeed in whatever I did. I was the last one picked to play on a team. Once picked I was always put in right field, supposedly I could do less harm there. I worked hard at the game and was finally accepted as a pretty good player. Fact is, I played on one baseball team and two softball teams my senior year in high school. My mother would scold me for playing so much ball but my father said he was proud of my success. I’m grateful for that. Now all I can do is watch and enjoy what others do on the field. Your book rings with eternal truths about life and I want to thank you for your contributions to the game and guidance you gave me, whether you knew it or not. I learned to be tough when I had to and pushed myself to succeed in life.

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.